


A Constant Reminder

by thatnerdemryn



Series: Tumblr Prompts [39]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Falling In Love, Introspection, M/M, Parabatai Feels, Pre-Canon, Sleeping Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:49:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23303434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatnerdemryn/pseuds/thatnerdemryn
Summary: The minute Jace stepped foot into the New York Institute, he learned to lean on Alec. He comforted him when his family abandoned him, spending countless hours in Alec’s room talking about everything under the sun. They studied together, trained together, were taught together by the greatest shadowhunters who have ever lived, and before Jace knew it, they were parabatai.
Relationships: Alec Lightwood/Jace Wayland
Series: Tumblr Prompts [39]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1359466
Comments: 8
Kudos: 64
Collections: Shadowhunters Fic-A-Thon 2020





	A Constant Reminder

The minute Jace stepped foot into the New York Institute, he learned to lean on Alec. He comforted him when his family abandoned him, spending countless hours in Alec’s room talking about everything under the sun. They studied together, trained together, were taught together by the greatest shadowhunters who have ever lived, and before Jace knew it, they were parabatai. 

On the battlefield, they were in sync. A perfect team made up of the most incomparable balance of pure skill and innate wisdom. What Alec lacked in strength, Jace made up for with his natural ability and what Jace lacked in intelligence, Alec’s knowledge was right at their fingertips. They were one, not whole without the other. Jace couldn’t imagine a life without his parabatai, his best friend, his family. 

He wasn’t quite sure when things changed. When his eyes lingered a bit too long on the sweat soaked, broad chest Alec puffed out during training. When his heart beat faster at even the mention of Alec, let alone the way it stopped when Alec looked at him. He wasn’t sure when him and Alec had both become so comfortable with attention, affection, even. 

Alec was carrying him then, his feet dragging across the steps of the Institute, Jace too drained to even pick them up. He relied on Alec, leaned against him with all of his weight because he knew that Alec would hold him up. Alec always held him up. Alec held him higher than anyone ever had and the thought alone terrified him. 

He wasn’t deserving of the pedestal that Alec hoisted him onto, the beacon of light and hope that Alec shined in his direction. He wasn’t anything special, really. He knew he had the skill, but it had been forced upon him from such a young age that he didn’t really know anything other than being a good shadowhunter. For Alec, he wanted to be a good person, something that never really occurred to him as different.

“Can you just take me to my room? I don’t want to have to deal with Maryse or Hodge or…” Alec nodded before he could finish, the only indication Jace needed to know he had heard and would honor what Jace wanted. He knew it wasn’t what Alec wanted, no, he wanted Jace to get checked out, but Jace just couldn’t. He had made a mistake, was too reckless, and he just wanted to sleep. 

Instead of turning right into the corridor that housed Jace’s room, Alec brought him left. It didn’t concern him, though, because he knew where they were going and it wasn’t the infirmary. Alec wouldn’t go against him like that. They were going to Alec’s room, where the bed was a little comfier and the room more lived in. A room with something other than just a bed and a dresser, the way Jace’s was decorated. 

When they pushed through the door, Jace let his feet plant firmly on the ground. He wasn’t unfamiliar with sleeping in Alec’s room. He’d stashed a few pairs of pajamas and a few seraph blades, the essentials, in the bottom drawer of Alec’s dresser a few months ago when it became apparent that both of them slept better together. 

“Can I help?” Alec asked softly as he watched Jace wince with every move of his arms. Jace shook his head, he had already been enough of a burden at that point. Alec kept watching him, his eyebrows furrowed with every sharp inhale the pain caused, but he didn’t help. Of course he didn’t help. Alec was a lot of things, kind, generous, talented, beautiful, but he wasn’t selfish. And if Jace didn’t want his help, he wouldn’t help just to make himself feel better. Jace loved that about him. 

He finished undressing and tugged on the pajama pants that he knew weren’t his. They were Alec’s, but neither of them seemed to care that the mistake was made. Jace wouldn’t admit that it wasn’t a mistake, either. Alec got ready himself with his still watchful eyes examining Jace’s sluggish movements. Jace laid back in the bed, on his side of the bed, closest to the door so that he could protect Alec if anything were to happen and waited patiently for Alec to join him. Alec did so soon after, sliding into the bed and under the covers. 

It was like a magnet, really. The minute they were alone and close enough, their arms wound around each other, their legs slitting comfortably, his parabatai rune pressing against the other, drawn together by the Angel if nothing else. Jace would always move first, pressing their foreheads together and revelling in the evenness of Alec’s breath hitting his face. It took everything in him most nights to lessen his grip on Alec’s skin, one hand on Alec’s smooth back, the other pressing against the slow beat of Alec’s heart. 

When Alec’s breathing slowed and his eyelids fluttered to a close, Jace couldn’t stop looking, memorizing. Nights like those were when Jace would let his eyes linger. They would wander to Alec’s soft, plump lips and it took everything in him not to press his forward, allowing himself to finally get a taste of what he thought happiness might be. They’d focus on the way Alec’s chest rose and fell and he’d mimic it, reminding himself to keep breathing, through the pain, the despair. 

They’d always end up on Alec’s parabatai rune, peeking out from where their skin was flush together, the darkened ink a notion that Jace had something, someone, to live for. It was a constant reminder that he could lean on Alec and that Alec leaned on him. And with those peaceful thoughts, he would let sleep take him over, knowing that if nothing at all, he had Alec to wake up to in the morning. 

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, this had a lot more feelings than I thought it would. Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> I will be opening up my [Tumblr](https://archeryandeyeliner.tumblr.com/) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/thatnerdemilyj/) to fluffy prompts like this one for the foreseeable future. 
> 
> If your looking to scream about Malec and don't know where to go, come join a super fun [Discord](https://discord.gg/8Q8yBVg)!
> 
> Kudos make me smile and comments make me weep, so please leave them!


End file.
